The tweet, made during the early hours of Monday morning, has since been deleted. Viola FC, who represent Mullen, expressed regret over the remarks. A spokesman said: “It was a mistake. He went out and one or two people had given him a hard time and a bit of stick. He lashed out but he deleted the tweet straight away.”

On Tuesday, Daniel Aldridge, policy manager for Stonewall Scotland, said: “More than 50% of young LGB people in Scotland suffer homophobic bullying in our schools and nearly all hear insulting homophobic remarks like ‘poof’ there. Mr Mullen’s comments unfortunately give the green light to bullies and sadly this tweet exposes a side of our national game that alienates LGB people, their families and friends.

“If Scottish football is serious about tackling homophobia, it must start acting on these issues. As a first step, we would welcome work with Hibernian FC and the SFA to make sure Scottish football is a place where everyone is welcome, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

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